The Petawawa River 4-Day Canoe Trip

Algonquin Park is home to one of the most spectacular and easily accessible white-water rivers in Canada; The Petawawa. Long considered a classic route for canoes, the Petawawa offers stunning scenery, deep gorges, the “Natch” campsite (the surrounding cliffs of which were the subject of a Tom Thomson painting) and frequent encounters with wildlife. The Petawawa cuts across the remote northeastern tip of the park and flows southeast towards its confluence with the Ottawa River. Our four day, fully guided canoe trip will take us from Lake Traverse to McManus Lake. This stretch of river offers class 1-3 whitewater which provides ideal opportunities to develope your whitewater skills. Unparalleled for its wildlife and scenery, the Petawawa River provides the best of Algonquin wilderness with a fun, challenging whitewater experience.

Availability & Costs

Itinerary

Day 1

7:00 am

7:45 am

Meet your guides and fellow paddlers for a pre-trip briefing and packing

3

9:00 am

Depart for the river

4

10:30 am

Petawawa River

5

12:15 pm

Lunch

6

1:00

Continue canoeing on the Petawawa

7

4:00

Make camp at Little Thompson rapid

8

Evening

Camp, dinner, relax

Day 2

1

8:00 am

Breakfast

2

9:00 am

Break Camp

3

10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Canoeing from Little Thompson rapid to the Natch. Great whitewater instructional day!

4

4:00 pm

Make camp at the Natch

5

Evening

Camp, dinner, relax

Day 3

1

8:00 am

Breakfast

2

9:00 am

Break Camp

3

10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Canoeing from the Natch, through Schnooner and 5 mile rapids

4

4:00 pm

Make camp near Smith Lake

5

Evening

Camp, dinner, relax

Day 4

1

8:00 am

Breakfast

2

9:00 am

Break Camp

3

9:30 am

Paddle to take out on McManus Lake

4

12:00 pm

Lunch at take out & load equipment

5

1:00 pm

Drive back to Esprit (arrive mid-afternoon ~ 3:00 pm)

Note: Trip timing may vary depending on water levels.

What's included in your adventure

The Petawawa 4-Day trip includes

4 days of canoeing

1 night camping at Esprit's lodge

3 night camping on the river

4 breakfasts, 4 riverside lunches, 3 dinner

All safety and paddling equipment

Internationally certified guides

Local transportation

Complimentary après canoeing beverage

Customize your day trip with Esprit by adding any of the following options:

Optional Add-ons

Options

Details

Amount

Accommodation

Hostel Upgrade for arrival night at Esprit:

$15.00/night

Additional Accommodation

Camping(bring your own tent)

$15.00/night

Platform Tent Rental

$30.00/night

Hostel

$30.00/night

Additional Meals

Breakfast

$10.00

Lunch

$15.00

Dinner

$25.00

Emergency Evacuation Insurance

Esprit and Air Medic ground and air

$5.00/per/day contact us for group rates

What you should bring with you for the day

All your mandatory safety equipment is provided for you. Therefore, all you need to bring with you are some personal items to help make your trip even more enjoyable. We recommend that you bring a pair of shoes or sandals to wear on the river (they will get wet!), 1 pair of shoes for camp, your swimsuit and/or shorts, sunscreen, hat, water bottle, 1 warm sweater (fleece or wool), 1 long pair of pants (quick dry, fleece or wool), 1 waterproof jacket and pants, 1-3 pairs of socks (wool or fleece), personal toiletries, towel, sleeping bag, sleeping pad (thermarest or foam).

Testimonials

Hear what others have to say about this trip:

“Just want to say thanks so much for a really brilliant week canoeing in Canada! It was LOVELY!!!”
Kate & Lisa

Latest news

We just finished an amazing full day white water rafting adventure with Esprit. We were a family of four with two teenagers and wanted to do the famous Ottawa river white water rafting. I looked at all four of the companies that do it and...More

rossmcb7/30/2017

I recently(late June 2017) went on a white water canoeing/camping trip with Esprit and had a fantastic time! We were in a group of six, 3 of us with 1 guide and 2 trainees. Between the three esprit raft guides they had a wealth of...More

Stefan S7/10/2017

Esprit is an amazing company full of great people who had just been struck with some bad luck. In may 2016 their main building burnt down due to a grease fire in the kitchen. It was terrible. Not only are they a great rafting company...More

Thomas T10/05/2016

There's a lot more to the trip than what I wrote, but it would be a really long review! The short version is: if you want to have an adventure, meet a lot of amazing people and sleep in the rain forest, then you should...More

Nicki V2/03/2018

Esprit is well managed and fantastic! I would always pick Esprit as my number one choice for rafting in the world despite with other excellent rafting companies in that area of North America.

Andrew C10/30/2016

About Us

Esprit prides itself in being DIFFERENT than other whitewater outfitters.